Tom Altman’s Wedia Conversation

I was very disappointed that Google didn’t try a little harder when it came to going after the 700Mhz by the FCC.  (It turns out that Verizon won the opportunity)

Then this story pops up on the New York Times and talks about Google going an alternative way:

Google, the Internet search engine company, released plans on Monday for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves and sought to ease fears that this might interfere with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones.

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Google outlined plans for low-power devices that use local wireless airwaves to access the “white space” between television channels. A Google executive called the plan “Wi-Fi 2.0 or Wi-Fi on steroids.”

This could be interesting…so they didn’t spend the $9.6 Billion Verizon did, but did they gain a foothold in an area anyone could play?

Gizmodo has a good post called “The Ultimate 700MHz Auction Guide: What It Is, Who’ll Win and Why You Should Care” - I’ve been keeping an eye on this auction, because it really seems to have a big impact on the internet and the future of all electronics for the next few years.

Interesting Gizmodo comments:

Why Would Someone Pay BILLIONS for It?
Every frequency band has slightly different physical attributes. The 700MHz band penetrates walls fairly easily and travels well, making it perfect for either cellular or long-range wireless broadband

Google’s statements of late haven’t been very enthusiastic about the prospect of winning; the ol’ college reading between the lines says it’s not planning to. But, it did get the open access provisions it pushed for, so there’s really no need to finance the network on top of it.

Verizon winning the C block pretty much kills previous utopian notions of a mythical third pipe, outside the grasp of the vested telcos, bringing glorious open internets to us all.

Not sure what all this means yet - but it will definetly be interesting to keep an eye on and see what comes of it all.

The GigaOm posted Tuesday (11/20/2007) that Verizon is boosting FiOS speeds. That is great - because broadband speeds in the US need boosting…take a look at this chart from ars technica - we rank third from the bottom.

It really makes you wonder if we will get them via the current technology - or we will have to wait for WiMax or other over-the-air options?

The auction is heating up for the 700MHz band. This could be the future of wireless internet in the US.

The battle for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum has begun. It is both a business and political battle, while the issues are very technical. The US government is holding an auction in January to sell off the most valuable wireless spectrum ever available, raising as much as $10 Billion dollars.

Here is a post from Don Dodge’s blog talking about it.